Video: Man Pardoned for Jan. 6 Role Goes for Gun in Car During Stop with Jasper County Indiana Deputy

By Michael Howie

Source The Times, Munster, Ind.

The Jasper County sheriff's deputy who fatally shot a Hobart man recently pardoned by President Donald Trump for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol building was legally justified in doing so and will not face criminal charges, an independent legal analysis of the evidence by prosecutors from Clinton County has concluded.

Matthew Huttle, 42, was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Jasper County Jan. 26, The Times previously reported. He had been pardoned, along with others involved in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, just a week before.

The Jasper County Sheriff's Office on Thursday released body and dash camera footage to the public showing the initial traffic stop up until the moment a deputy, believing Huttle posed a deadly threat, fired several shots at him.

Huttle was pulled over for allegedly traveling 70 mph in a 55-mph zone on Indiana 14 in Jasper County at approximately 4:21 p.m. Jan. 26.

He told the sheriff's deputy he was driving from church and his mom's cemetery. Without being prompted, he also told the deputy he was a " January 6th defendant," audio from the deputy's body worn camera reveals.

"What do you mean?" the deputy asked.

"I stormed the capitol and I'm waiting on my pardon," Huttle replied.

"Really?" the deputy said with a short laugh.

"I can't afford to get in any trouble right now," Huttle said to the deputy.

Huttle then admitted he was driving without a license.

The deputy walked back to his police vehicle to run his information before approaching Huttle's car again, video shows, and asked Huttle to step out of the vehicle. Huttle complied.

The officer told Huttle he would have gotten off with a verbal warning for speeding, but as a habitual traffic violator, he was "at a felony status for driving while suspended," the deputy explained.

"So today, you are going to come with me," the deputy told Huttle.

"Well, I can't, I can't," Huttle said. "I can't do it. No, I can't go to jail for this, sir."

After about 30 seconds of back-and-forth discussion in which the officer explained why he couldn't let Huttle go, the officer told Huttle to turn around and put his hands behind his back. At that moment, Huttle turned to his left and made a beeline for the driver's side door of his vehicle.

Huttle opened the door and made it into the vehicle as the deputy gave chase, video shows. The footage goes black briefly as the deputy likely made physical contact with Huttle and blocked the camera.

"I'm shooting myself," audio from the body camera picks up Huttle saying.

Presumably hearing what Huttle said, the deputy backed away from the car, aimed his gun at Huttle and fired at least five shots at him.

According to the evidence review submitted to the Indiana State Police and the Jasper County Sheriff's Office by deputy prosecutor Chris Vawter, lifesaving measures were unsuccessful and Huttle was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators later recovered a loaded handgun and additional ammunition inside the vehicle, near where Huttle had reached, according to the Clinton County prosecutors' review.

Video from the deputy's dash camera confirmed that Huttle did raise an object. It is impossible to confirm whether it was a gun or not, but investigators presume from the context of the situation that it was the gun later recovered from the scene. It is unclear from the video and evidentiary analysis whether Huttle aimed the gun at himself or at the deputy.

Vawter said probable cause existed to arrest Huttle for a felony as a habitual traffic offender.

Online court records show Huttle was cited eight times from 2016 to 2022 for operating a vehicle while being a habitual traffic offender. He had numerous traffic violations prior to 2016.

"Despite lawful commands, Huttle attempted to reach for a firearm, posing an imminent threat to the Deputy’s safety," Vawter said in his report. "Given these facts, the Deputy’s actions were legally justified under Indiana law."

ISP initially took control of the investigation from the sheriff's office because the incident involved a Jasper County officer — which is standard practice.

State police had previously said their initial investigation revealed that Huttle had a firearm in his possession during the traffic stop.

Immediately after the fatal shooting, Jasper County Sheriff Patrick Williamson said the officer involved was placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol. It is unclear if he has since returned to work.

Huttle, then 40, was charged with videotaping his entry into the Capitol’s Senate Wing on Jan. 6, 2021, and walking through multiple locations inside, according to photos in court documents. The photos show security footage of Huttle on the first floor of the Capitol and screenshots of his own footage taken while inside.

He was sentenced to six months in federal prison to be followed by a year of supervised release, records show. He was reportedly released from prison July 17.

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